Device



(No Model.)

. J.0ASTLB.

ADVERTISING DEVICE.

No.. 403,037. `Paterlted May?, 1889.

Il mm a IIN 'lll @NW6/named UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

JAMES OASTLE, OE TORONTO, ONTARIO, OANADA.

ADVERTISING DEVICE.

SPECIFIGATIO forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,037, dated May 7,1889.

Application filed October 10, 1888. Serial No. 287,746. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LJAMES CASTLE, of To-4 ronto, in the Province ofOntario and-Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Advertising Devices; and I do hereby declare that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to Which it appert-ains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andto the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in advertising or exhibitingdevices.

Heretofore in advertising machines and analogous devices employingmoving sheets or advertisements which are successively displayed variousmeans have been employed to move the sheets-such as clock-work, gearingconnected with and operated by the bellcord of a street-car, dro.; butthese old devices have never Worked to entire satisfaction. They areexpensive or complicated and require too much attention. l

The object of the present invention is to overcome the defects in theold devices of this class, and to give the required movement to theadvertisements, sheets, or other exhibits automatically by a simple,cheap, and effective device requiring no attention, and operated by thejar and motion of a streetcar or other vehicle wherein the device islocated.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction andcombinations of parts, more fully described hereinafter, andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure lis a perspective view of the device, the front of the case beingopen and the sheet and rollers shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is asectional view of the same in plane of c Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a similarview of a modification.

Referring to the drawings, the referenceletter a. indicates any suitablecase or inclosing-casing, if desirable, provided with a glass or othertransparent panel closing its front side.- A main or driving roller, b,is journaled in the case and drives the advertising sheet or sheets c,which, as shown in Fig. 2, is formed in an endless sheet stretched andmoving behind the glass panel. The sheet operates over and is supportedby rollers d d in the upper portion of the case, and by one or morerollers, e, in the lower portion, the sheet passing from a rear toproller, d, down around the driving-roller, from thence up around theother roller, d, and down behind the transparent front, to and aroundthe bottom rollers, and up behind the driving-roller to the rear roller,CZ. Thus itwill be seen that as the driving-roller is turned the sheetis moved behind the glass front, thus presenting differentadvertisements to the eye of the public. Instead of an endless sheet thedriving-roller can be provided with a series of sheets, c, as shown inFig. 3, attached at one edge to hang free from the same; hence as theroller is turned different sheets will be displayed behind the glassfront.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide a motor forautomatically operating the driving-roller and moving the sheet orsheets, and the preferred way of accomplishing this is by employing aflexible spring-hanf, rigidly secured at one end within the casing toallow its opposite end an up-an d-down or vi.- bratory motion, and saidfree end is provided with a weight, g. An actuating arm or finger, h, issecured at one end to the movable end of the spring-bar, said fingerlying in approximately a horizontal plane When in its normal position,and its free end is adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, z',journaled in the casing, and provided with gearing j, meshing with theteeth of a gear-Wheel, lo, journaled in the case, and meshing with agear-wheel, Z, secured to or rigidly mounted upon the driving-roller.

The spring-bar is weighted, so that its free end is pressed down to sucha point where the slightest jar or jolt will move or vibrate it up anddown, as shown by dotted lines, moving with it the finger b. Thus whenthe free end of the bar is depressed the free end of the finger islifted from engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and as theweighted end of the bar moves up the free end of the linger is throwndown into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel, and thenforward, rotating the wheel a certain amount, varying with the length ofvibration of the weighted. end of the spring-bar, thus IOO operating thegearing and driving-roller and moving the advertising sheet or sheets acertain amount.

The ratchet-wheel provided With a pawl, m, to prevent retrogrademovement, and the actu ating-iin ger is held Within certain bounds by astop, n, limiting its up-and-doivn move ment, and also serving as aguide to keep the finger in place to always engage the ratchet- Wheel.

The device is more especially intended for use in street-cars, as themotion of the car Will cause the Weighted spring-bar to vibrate andoperate the mechanism, as described; but the same is not limited to thisuse, as it can be used in any place Where the case will be jarred ormoved sufficiently to vibrate the spring-bar; nor is the motor limitedin any Way to use for operating such a device as shown, for it can beused in many other Ways, such as a mechanical show-card, made, say, bycutting letters or other devices through a card and having a variously-colored card at the rear of the same attached to the springbar or tothe actuating-finger, so that as the spring vibrates the colored card isreciprocated behind the letters, making it appear as though the letterswere continuously changing color. It is also evident that the inventionis not limited to the exact means shown of transferring the powerderived from the springbar to rollers, and that various changes might bemade in the form and arrangement of the parts described withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not Wishto limit myself to the precise construction herein set forth.

l. The combination, with a movable ex hibit, of an approximatelyhorizontal springbar rigidly secured at one end and having its freevibrator-y end Weighted and connected with and adapted to move theexhibit by a finger secured to the free end of the bar, substantially asdescribed.

2. .An inclosing-case, in combination With a movable exhibit in thesame, and a springbar Weighted at one end and rigidly secured in thecase at the opposite end to allow the Weighted end a vibratory movement,and an approximately horizontal actuating-iinger secured to the weightedend of the bar and operating the exhibit, substantially as described.

The combination of an Vinclosing-case, an interior movable exhibit, aspring-bar rigidly secured at one end and having its opposite freevibratory end Weighted, an actuating-finger rigidly secured to andmoving with the vibratory end of the bar and having its opposite freeend adapted to rotate a ratchet- Wheel to move the exhibit, and a guidefor the Iinger, substantially as described.

4. In combination, an inclosing-case having a roller therein to actuatea movable exhibit, a ratchet-wheel to rotate the roller, a springbarrigidly secured at one end near the wheel and having its vibratory endWeighted,a finger secured to the vibratory end and having its free endadapted to engage and rotate the Wheel, and a guide to alloriT the freeend of the finger a limited movement and hold it in position to engaget-he teeth of the Wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I afiix my si gnaturein presence of two witnesses.

JAMES CASTLE. Vfitnesses:

SAMUEL J ENNIsoN, EDITH L. MACY.

